Obama campaign accuses Romney of lying on welfare, again

Chicago is running out of ways to cry foul on Mitt Romney's latest ad.

Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter on Monday called the latest welfare attack ad a "complete and utter lie" in a conference call with reporters.

"If they want to bring the campaigns out of the mud, I think they need to look to home first," Cutter said. "They are the ones spending money on something that is simply not true."

Romney's ad charges that Obama's Department of Health and Human Services has essentially gutted the 1996 Bill Clinton-era welfare-to-work reforms, by waiving the work requirement. The Obama administration, the Obama campaign and Clinton (and independent fact checkers) all deny this — and the administration has said repeatedly they are only waiving some minor administrative changes to offer more flexibility. Even some Republican governors do not dispute that they asked for more flexibility.

The campaign also put forward Democratic Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware and former Republican-turned-independent Gov. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island as surrogates to defend the welfare changes.

"[Romney] and Paul Ryan would rather falsely attack the president than find solutions," Chafee said.

Still, Republicans note that Obama has repeatedly expressed his opposition to the 1996 law and charge that he has no authority under the current law to make any of those changes.

The furious pushback from the White House, the Obama campaign and the Clintons is a major sign that Team Obama is deeply worried about the attack and believes it could have lasting resonance into the fall. The campaign has held several calls, and has even launched a seven-state television ad pushing back against the Romney ad — and the White House has pushed back from the briefing room podium and in blog posts.

UPDATE at 2:32: The Romney campaign fires back: “The facts are clear: President Obama's executive action dismantles welfare-to-work and undermines the very premise of bipartisan welfare reform. As president, Mitt Romney will immediately rescind the Obama executive action and ensure that work requirements are a part of welfare. On this issue, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama couldn’t be further apart," says Romney spokesman Ryan Williams.